[Edaily Reporters Lee So-hyun and Yoon Jung-hoon] The experience in platform and artificial intelligence (AI) technology development gained at Naver (#NAVER) is spreading across the entire industry, from startup investment and entrepreneur development to the AI strategy organizations of major telecommunications companies. In line with the government’s AI promotion policy, there is a growing consensus that the so-called “Naver DNA” is establishing itself as a key pillar of the domestic AI ecosystem.

According to the IT industry on the 11th, Naver’s proprietary AI capabilities are the reason it is gaining attention as a key talent pool for the AI ecosystem. Following the 2021 launch of “HyperClova,” the world’s third-largest super-large AI model, Naver unveiled the advanced “HyperClova X” in 2023, marking the full-scale implementation of its sovereign AI strategy.

The industry cites Naver’s strength as its experience in actually applying AI across various business areas—including search, commerce, cloud, collaboration tools, and public services—beyond mere research and development. Analysts note that its status as a leading domestic platform company with experience ranging from AI model development to service commercialization and large-scale user operations has served as the foundation for expanding its talent and investment networks.

The AI Startup Ecosystem Nurtured by D2SF

Naver’s technology-centric strategy is also evident in its startup investments. Since its launch in 2015, D2SF, Naver’s technology startup investment arm, has invested in 124 early-stage tech startups, with 61 of them—nearly half—being AI-based companies. This includes numerous future-tech firms combining AI with fields such as robotics, mobility, and spatial computing.

In particular, FuriosaAI, NOTA, and Clobot are representative examples of companies D2SF identified in their early stages. These companies have grown in the fields of AI semiconductors, AI optimization, and robot software, establishing themselves as major players in the domestic AI industry.

It is widely believed that Naver’s entrepreneurial culture is the driving force behind D2SF’s bold investments in ultra-early-stage tech companies. As Naver was founded by Chairman Lee Hae-jin as an internal venture project at Samsung SDS before becoming an independent company, it is said to have a high level of openness to new technologies and industry changes. A Naver official stated, “We have a culture that allows us to actively take risks and invest in frontier tech fields.”

Expanding into Government AI Projects and the Public Market

Naver’s investment ecosystem is also linked to the government’s AI strategy. Companies in which D2SF has made early-stage investments are participating in the government’s independent AI foundation model development project and industry-specific AI projects.

MachinaRax is responsible for manufacturing-specific AI capabilities within the Upstage consortium, while Crowdworks and N.dotlight are participating in the Motif Technologies consortium.

Naver’s AI technology and service expertise are also expanding into the public and financial sectors. Naver and the Bank of Korea are exploring ways to utilize AI in the financial and economic sectors using HyperClova X, and Naver Cloud has also participated in a project to build a generative AI platform exclusively for the Bank of Korea. The company is also increasing its presence in the public AI market, such as through the Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s government-wide AI common infrastructure project.

SKT and KT AI Leaders Also Hail from Naver

Talent from Naver is also leading the AI transformation in the domestic telecommunications industry.

Jeong Seok-geun, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and Head of the AI CIC at SK Telecom, who oversees the company’s AI business, is a former CEO of Naver’s Clova CIC. Kim Jun-seok, Executive Vice President leading the Agentik AI Lab under KT’s AX Future Technology Institute, is also the figure who spearheaded the development of Naver’s AI translation service, ‘Papago.’

Kim Seong-hoon, CEO of Upstage, a leading domestic AI startup, also launched his company after overseeing AI R&D at Naver’s Clova AI research organization.

Recently, a virtuous cycle has also been forming centered around accelerators founded by former Naver employees. Swallows, an accelerator launched in 2024, was co-founded by Kim Ho-kyu (CEO), Han Seong-hee (Chief Product Officer, CPO), and Jeon Woo-sung (Chief Branding Officer, CBO), all former Naver employees. They are fostering early-stage startups through a hands-on support model that combines product development, branding, and investment strategies.

Hailed as

the "Korean AI Hub"... Diversity Remains a Challenge

With investment, entrepreneurship, talent development, and the cultivation of industry leaders all interconnected within a single ecosystem, many view Naver as serving as the hub of the domestic AI industry.

Choi Seong-jin, CEO of the Startup Growth Research Institute, stated, “Talent from major IT companies such as Naver, Daum, Kakao, and Baemin has played a crucial role in the growth of the domestic innovation ecosystem,” adding, “It is a natural progression for professionals who have experienced technological innovation and business expansion in the field to take on active roles in government and industry.”

However, concerns have also been raised regarding the phenomenon where talent and investment networks originating from specific companies are expanding their influence across the entire industry. An industry insider remarked, “While it is clear that Naver has contributed to the development of the domestic AI ecosystem, in the long term, we need an open ecosystem where diverse companies, research institutions, and international talent can participate together,” adding, “Ensuring ecosystem diversity will be a key challenge for the sustainable growth of Korea’s AI industry.”